(Toronto, July 24, 2026) — JMIR Publications released three feature News and Perspectives articles, covering industry trends and innovations transforming the future of health care.
Reporting from the AWE USA 2026 event in Long Beach, CA, physician and extended reality researcher José Ferrer Costa covers XR industry trends in " From Spatial AI to Clinical Readiness: Lessons From Augmented World Expo USA 2026 ". He notes a shift towards investment and development in spatial infrastructure, which may have major implications for XR’s implementation in clinical practice, and a broader presence of health care uses. One major issue came up during this event again and again during the event: how XR products can move from the demo stage to actual service. “Clinical XR is not waiting only for its next technical breakthrough,” writes Costa. “It is waiting for health systems capable of deciding, responsibly and realistically, when immersive experiences belong in care and when they do not.”
Please cite as:
Costa JF. From Spatial AI to Clinical Readiness: Lessons From Augmented World Expo USA 2026
J Med Internet Res 2026;28:e106580
URL: https://www.jmir.org/2026/1/e106580
DOI: 10.2196/106580
In " First, Do NoHarm: How Pharmaceutical AI Is Improving Care Across Brazil ," Luke Taylor reports on NoHarm, a Brazilian nonprofit AI tool used to automate and scale pharmaceutical review, “flagging potentially dangerous drug interactions, incorrect dosages, and other risks at a speed, scale, and precision impossible for humans.” For Brazil’s public health care system—the largest in the world—relieving its overstretched pharmacists of wide-scale pharmaceutical review frees up resources and reduces medication-associated harm. Though NoHarm’s business model, which charges private hospitals for the service so that it public hospitals can use it for free, has the potential to democratize quality health care, Taylor notes that implementation is held back in some areas by its need for connectivity, and that its expansion to other countries depends upon varying norms of health data access.
Taylor L. AI Models Could Improve Diagnosis and Care for Rare Diseases.
J Med Internet Res 2026;28:e107255
URL: https://www.jmir.org/2026/1/e107255
DOI: 10.2196/107255
Research developments in edge AI and flexible, stretchable electronics may transform how we approach wearable devices, reports Michelle Falci in " The Next Generation of Wearables Won’t Need the Cloud ". On-device processing means that health data can be interpreted in real time, allowing for more accurate, responsive, and secure at-home monitoring. Speaking with researcher Sihong Wang of the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and health tech leader Pierluigi Gardella of NXP Semiconductors, Falci discusses how neuromorphic computing—which mimics human neural structure and function for increased efficiency—and innovations in electronics pave the way for wearable devices to conform to the body, enabling better data collection. “Though challenges remain,” writes Falci, “offloading tasks from the cloud and using local processing reduces centralized infrastructure demand and costs associated with cloud computing.”
Falci M. The Next Generation of Wearables Won’t Need the Cloud
J Med Internet Res 2026;28:e107247
URL: https://www.jmir.org/2026/1/e107247
DOI: 10.2196/107247
About JMIR Publications News and Perspectives
JMIR Publications is a leading open access publisher of digital health research. The News and Perspectives section is the newest addition to its portfolio, established to bring the rigor and integrity of academic publishing to scientific journalism. The section features well-researched, expert-driven content from the Scientific News Editor, Kayleigh-Ann Clegg, PhD, and a network of specialist JMIR Publications Correspondents to keep the digital health community informed, inspired, and ahead of the curve.
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